How to take the perfect picture for Garage Sale Trail

Thinking of joining the Garage Sale Trail online this year?

The team has some important tips to ensuring your online sale is as successful as one in person.

Garage Sale Trail listings that include pictures get viewed 6.4 times more. Up your money making potential by adding 3 - 5 pics of the very best items you’re selling by logging in to your seller dashboard.

The trusty Trail tips below will help you take the perfect snap of your items.

Gone are the days of pixely low-quality mobile phone photos - mobile phones these days can make your items look top notch! Don’t have a top of the range camera? No worries - if you have a mobile phone with a camera you’ll be just fine.

1. Keep the lens clean.

Use a lens cleaning solution with a soft cloth or even a t-shirt to clean the lens on the back for your phone. (This can make a HUUGGEEE difference)

2. Check your settings.

Make sure your camera is set to the highest resolution.

3. Use a plain background. 

White cardboard or even your bedroom walls with nothing else in frame will do the trick

3. Turn off the flash.

Lighting is the foundation of a good photo. Understanding how to use light is the first and most important rule of getting great photos using only your phone. Avoid using your flash in favour of natural light, which creates photos that are richer and brighter. Shadows, reflections, and greyness will make your photos less attractive.

4. Minimise camera movement.

Place the camera on a flat surface to keep the photo crisp. Or turn on the gridlines for your phone camera in settings, and use them to practice aligning your photos.

5. Snap away!

Taking photos from different viewpoints will ensure you have options to choose from later when it's time to upload pics to your sale page. Include some close ups on special details of the item. Try shooting from above or below, crouching low to the ground, or from way up high.

Selling clothes on the trail?

Show buyers what your item will look like by modelling it on yourself (or bribing a friend to model for you in exchange for chocolate and wine) rather than a hanger or by laying it on a flat surface.

For more information, visit the Garage Sale Trail website.